Harrisburg’s superintendent accuses school board members of creating ‘hostile work environment’

Tension between the Harrisburg School District superintendent and two school directors has led her to complain twice about a “hostile work environment.”

The first complaint came in June, after Judd Pittman, then president of the school board, tried unsuccessfully to get board approval to open a search for a superintendent.

“As the board president, you have the right to criticize my professional performance," Knight-Burney wrote in a letter to Pittman. "You do not have the right to subject me to a hostile work environment. If your actions continue and you do not cease immediately, I will exercise my rights as an employee to file a complaint with the appropriate civil rights agencies.”

A more recent complaint came when the board met behind closed doors on April 15, ostensibly to discuss a state audit.

Three members of the board confirmed that board President Danielle Robinson read a letter from Knight-Burney accusing board member Carrie Fowler of creating a hostile work environment.

Fowler on Thursday declined to comment on the content of the letter. She said she had repeatedly asked for a copy of the letter, but has not received it. The letter was also read during an executive session in March, from which Fowler was absent, Pittman said.

Knight-Burney and Robinson did not respond to requests for comment. Attempts to reach newly appointed solicitor James Ellison were also unsuccessful.

“I really hope this isn’t about filing a suit,” Pittman said last week. “That’s really counterproductive.”

The three board members, Fowler, Pittman and Brian Carter, have become known as a vocal minority on the board, questioning and often voting against the administration’s wishes.

Immediately after the executive session, during the public portion of the April 15 meeting, Carter made a motion to consider suspending Knight-Burney and business manager Bilal Hasan. His motion failed.

Fowler then followed up by asking the board to consider suspending Robinson. That effort also failed.

“I don’t believe that Carrie, Judd or myself are causing a hostile work environment,” Carter said a few days after the meeting. “However, I would say that we are creating dialogue amongst the administration and the community so they’ll have a formal understanding of why we vote the way we do.”

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